Shaft-support for vehicles.



No. 765,286. PATENTBD JULY 19, 1904.

H. K. KIMPTGN.

SHAFT SUPPORT FOR VEHICLES.

rrmonron FILED un. 1'1. 1903. Nb Holm..

Attornys UNITED STATES Patented July 19, 1904.

PATENT OEEICE.

HENRY KOSSUTH KIMPTON, OF TILSONBURG, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TOGEORGE BENJAMIN HAl/VKINS, OF TILSONBURG, CANADA.

SHAFT-SUPPORT FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 765,286, dated VJuly19, 1904.

Application filed April 17, 1903' To @ZZ whom t may concer-n:

Be it known that I, HENRY KossU'rH KIMP- TON, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at Tilsonburg, county of Oxford, Province ofOntario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inShaft- Supports; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to a device for holding up the shafts of buggiesand vehicles generally, so as to prevent their being trodden upon ortripped over and broken by animals and persons, and, further, todiminish the amount of room necessary for storing vehicles incarriage-houses.

The object of my present invention is to produce a device which can bereadily carried about from place to place, can be easily and quicklymanufactured at a nominal cost, and which will perfectly serve itspurpose of supporting the shafts in a vertical position.

My invention comprises a species of U- shaped locking-iron adapted toengage between the shaft, axle, and connecting-bolt of the draw-jack orthill-coupling in the peculiar manner which will be seen from thefollowing detailed description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein`Figure l is a front elevationv of a portion of a shaft and axle and thecoupling or drawjack connecting the two, showing my shaftsupportingdevice as applied to hold the shaft or thill in upright position. Fig. 2is a side View of the same, the axle being shown in transverse section.

The same numerals of reference denote like parts in both figures of thedrawings.

In these drawings the axle is designated as 3, the shaft or thill as 4,and the coupling as 5, secured by means of any suitable axle-clip SerialNo. 153,102. (No model.)

6 to the axle and having a connecting-bolt 7, which 'passes through theshaft-eye 8, secured to the end of the shaft by means of a T-bolt 9. Theordinary or operative position of the shaft is shown in dotted lines inFig. 2; but when the vehicle is unhitched and it is desired to supportthe shaft in upright position I apply my device in the manner shown.This device consists of a U-shaped iron or steel bar 10,which is ofproper dimensions to support the shaft and the limbs of which areadapted to embrace the neck of the draw-jack 5, but to pass behind thehead and nut of the connecting-bolt 7, sothat the latter forms asupport, in conjunction with the lower side of the axle, against whichthe ends of the limbs rest, and the loop or bent portion 11 of the ironforms a rest for the lower side of the shaft.

It is preferable to give the loop or bend l1 of the iron a slight bendor offset, as at 12, so as to adapt it to support the shafts more nearlyvertical, as shown, by reason of the Vcurvature of the ends of theshafts, and in cases where the roof of the building is insufficientlyhigh to support the shafts vertically I may apply my supporting devicein reverse position, as shown in the dotted lines in Fig. 2, so that theshafts are supported upwardly at an angle with the horizontal.

Changes within the scope of the appended claims may be made in the formand proportion of some of the parts, while their essential features areretained and the spirit of the invention is embodied. Hence I not desireto be limited to the precise form of all the parts as shown, reservingthe right to vary therefrom.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent. is-

1. A shaft-supporting device comprising a U-shaped bar adapted to beinterlocked between the shaft, the axle and the supportingbolt of avehicle and having its upper end bent or olfset at a slight angle withthe limbs, substantially as described.

2. In a vehicle, the combination of an axle, e draw-jack coupledthereto, a thill having 2t shaft-eye, a transverse connecting-boltpassing through said draw-jack and shafteye, and a U-shaped iron havingthe loop or upper end thereof offset or bent at en angle with the

